


Five Reasons Pam Loves Michael (Not That Way!)

by writetherest



Category: The Office (US)
Genre: 5 Things, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-12
Updated: 2013-08-12
Packaged: 2017-12-23 06:43:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/923203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writetherest/pseuds/writetherest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Name five reasons you love Michael." Mark repeats, his eyes almost begging her or Jim to answer. Apparently he's been at this all morning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Reasons Pam Loves Michael (Not That Way!)

"Wait, could you repeat the question please?" Pam asks Mark, the cameraman, her eyes darting from Jim to the camera and back again.

"Name five reasons you love Michael." Mark repeats, his eyes almost begging her or Jim to answer. Apparently he's been at this all morning.

"Shouldn't you be asking Jan that?" Jim shrugs, his posture revealing that he's not going to answer the question.

Mark's eyes are boring into her, and Pam hates it. The cameramen have never been anything but nice to her, and she's always done her best to answer their questions truthfully, even when they were difficult. But this question…

"Um, I – I can't answer that. Because, um, I don't love Michael." She bites her lip.

"It doesn't have to be love, love. It can just be… you know, like, love." Mark tries.

Pam just looks down and prays they aren't going to air this particular scene on the documentary. Mark finally takes pity on them and shuts the camera off, allowing them to go back to work. Both she and Jim breathe sighs of relief and smile at each other as they head back to their desks, glad they'd managed to avoid the bullet.

~ * ~

Her voice mail light is flashing on her phone when she gets back to her desk and she hits the button to listen to her messages while watching Jim sit down at his desk and stare at Dwight for no reason.

The message is from Jan, saying she needs to speak to Michael as soon as possible. It must be something about actual corporate business, because otherwise Jan would just call Michael's line directly. She has this thing about being very proper when it comes to business transactions, and Pam guesses she can't blame her.

Jim is still staring at Dwight and Dwight is finally beginning to become aware when she hits the button to call the corporate offices. Hunter connects her to Jan quickly, but not before plugging an upcoming gig his band has at some bar in New York that she's never heard of. She says she'll check her schedule while trying not to laugh when Dwight stands up and stalks into Michael's office without knocking, obviously to complain about Jim.

Jan sounds rather happy to hear from her and she puts her on hold as she hits the button to call Michael. Michael sounds even more happy to hear from her and she hears him kicking Dwight out of the office saying he has a very important phone call.

Once Dwight is gone he tells her, "You can connect my buttercup now, Pam."

"Okay, Michael," she says, but doesn't hit the button.

"Hewwo my wittle sex goddess," Michael purrs into the phone.

"Um, I haven't connected you yet." She manages to get out and then hits the button to connect him, almost choking on her laughter. It's not like she ever wanted to hear Michael say that to Jan, but it is pretty darn funny.

After she manages to get it together and goes over and tells Jim exactly what transpired, she discreetly slips into the conference room where Mark is still sitting.

She gives a look to the camera that says 'what are you gonna do?' before she begins.

"I did the thing again. Where I don't connect Michael right away. And it was pretty amusing, as always." She reflects back. "And also a bit unsettling… but still, pretty funny. And um, you know, I guess, if you think about it, Michael's kind of to me what Dwight is to Jim. I mean, I love helping Jim prank Dwight, but sometimes it's just fun to pull one off yourself, you know? And it's fun with Dwight, but Jim always comes up with the best ones for him, so mine always pale in comparison. But Michael, he's really fun to mess with and Jim always thinks my efforts are good. And Michael's just so easy, too. He's kind of like a big walking prank. Even when I'm not pranking him, I can still laugh at him."

She pauses, thinking about something. "And the good thing is, he's okay with it all, because he just wants to entertain us. So, I guess that could um, be considered, you know, maybe… one reason." She trails off at the end, her words very quiet, but still understandable. And then before Mark can say or do anything she is out of the conference room and back at her desk, working away as though nothing had happened.

~ * ~

About half an hour after he gets off the phone with Jan, Michael comes out of his office and over to her desk. She is doodling on a Post-It, a picture of an island in the middle of the ocean with a big palm tree, and he startles her when he leans over her desk.

"Pam-a-lam-a-ding-dong! Jan said she'd be faxing some forms over here, so, when you get them, can you make sure you bring them in to me?"

"Sure, Michael. But don't faxes from corporate usually go in the special filing cabinet?" She looks over at the trash can, trying not to laugh. It really was just too easy sometimes.

"Um, well Pam, normally yes, but this is… actually important. So just make sure I get it, okay?"

"I will Michael." She assures him, while pulling the Post-It off the pad. It's just a silly little doodle, and she can't get the palm tree quite right which is frustrating her, and she's got a game of Free Cell to attend to, so she moves to toss the drawing into the 'special filing cabinet' when Michael stops her.

"You're going to throw that out?"

"What? Oh, yeah. It's just a silly drawing. It's – I couldn't get the palm tree right, so…"

"Can I have it?" Michael asks, then clarifies, "It reminds me of Jamaica. And I think the palm tree looks pretty good."

Pam's smile is bright as she hands it to him. She watches him sit down at his desk and stick the little yellow square onto the top of the frame that she knows houses one of the G-rated pictures of him and Jan on the beach in Jamaica.

She stands up and checks the fax machine paper drawer, then heads over to the conference room under the guise of getting more paper, even though the drawer is over half full.

Her look this time says 'don't say a word' as she sits down in front of Mark.

"Michael likes my drawings. He was actually the first person to ever really tell me they were good. Jim tells me they're good all the time now, and Phyllis thinks so too, but it was actually Michael who told me first. I was always kind of self-conscious about them, but I love to draw. So I would end up doodling on memos and things and then I'd take them in to Michael. I remember the first time I realized what I'd done. I ran into his office to apologize, and he told me how good he thought the drawing was. It was of my pencil cup, but I did think it had some pretty good potential. And since then, he's been telling me he likes what I've drawn."

She gets a distant look in her eyes for a moment, before she smiles again. "And there was my art show. He bought my painting of the office for thirty-five dollars and it's hanging in his office." Her smile is wide. "He told me he was proud of me, and he bought a painting from me. It really meant a lot at the time."

"Oh, and he actually asked me to look at the drawings he did – remember Agent Michael Scarn? – he asked me to look at them and tell him what I thought. Like I was a good judge of drawing or something. So um, yeah. It's kind of nice that he likes them. And I guess that could be… another… thing."

She carries a small stack of paper with her when she goes back to her desk, only to find that the fax has already arrived.

~ * ~

Michael is talking to Jan when she enters after briefly knocking on his door. "Yep Buttercup, Pam just brought them in now," he says and she smiles, because this must be a more personal call than the one before. She thinks Michael and Jan are cute together, although it's not really her place to think about those sorts of things.

She hands Michael the fax and goes to leave, catching a glimpse of his desk calendar before she gets out the door. She sees that the date two weeks from now is circled and the little block contains the memo 'Pam's Birthday', along with what she hopes is a crudely drawn balloon. She smiles again.

Mark is in the break room now, so she heads over there, grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge before sitting down in front of him. She takes a long drink, then begins to speak, unsure of whether he's actually recording or not, but willing to bet he probably is.

"Michael remembers my birthday. He's got it circled on his calendar on his desk. It's not a big deal really. I mean, he remembers everyone's birthday – except Ryan's, because Ryan's never told him when it is, but he knows everyone else's. And yeah, it's only because he likes to throw us parties on our birthday as an excuse not to have to do actual work, but still…"

"Roy remembered my birthday twice in all the time we were together. And Michael's had a party for my birthday every year since I've worked here. It's just nice, I guess. To know that someone's going to remember. And he always gets the party planning committee to get my favorite cake. Or maybe that's Jim. But either way…"

She trails off, not willing to say that this is her third reason. Instead she just takes another drink and then goes back to her desk.

~ * ~

At lunch the conversation somehow turns to old high school memories, and then to prom stories. They ask Phyllis about Michael and prom, but she can't seem to remember him ever going, which disappoints them all a bit. She does, however, remember that someone spiked the punch at her junior prom, and it's quite possible that Michael was there, but the whole night is a haze.

Meredith quickly jumps in with her stories of how she was the one to spike the punch at her proms, and none of them are surprised.

"Oh man, my senior prom, I went to this after prom party, and there was all kinds of alcohol, and I got so wasted," Karen says with a laugh. "I fell over in the front yard of the house and couldn't get back up. My older brother was friends with one of the guys having the party and the guy called him. He had to come and drive me home, and I ended up puking in the backseat of his car. I was so sure he was going to tell my parents, but he just snuck me in the house, cleaned up his car, and held it over my head for the rest of my life."

Everyone laughs at the story and the rest of the group continues to tell sibling stories, but Pam is quiet.

At her after-lunch interview, Mark asks why she was so quiet at lunch. "Oh, I didn't mean to be quiet. I just – I don't have any siblings, so once everyone started sharing stories about their brothers or sisters I couldn't really contribute."

Mark asks if she's sad she never had a brother or sister.

"I don't know. It didn't really bother me when I was younger, but now I kind of wish I did have a sibling. I'd like that bond… someone to be there for you, to come pick you up when you're drunk out of your mind, you know, that kind of thing. But I guess that's why those of us without brothers and sisters have friends."

Mark asks if she's ever had someone come pick her up because she was too drunk to get home.

"No, I can't say I have. I mean, there was the night of the Dundies, Jim drove me home, but I didn't have to call and ask him. I did have someone offer to be my designated driver once, though." Mark doesn't ask who, but Pam tells him anyway. "It was Michael, actually, about a year ago. I was going out with some friends of mine for my friend Lisa's birthday. Michael overheard me talking to Phyllis, and I had said that I might get drunk since we were all going to a bar. The next thing I know, Michael is writing his cell phone number down on my hand and telling me to call him, any time of the day or night, if I needed a ride home. He said he wrote the number on my hand so that even if I was drunk, I would be able to see it." She rolls her eyes.

"No. I didn't call him. I didn't actually drink much of anything that night, so I ended up being the DD. But I always thought it was sweet of him to offer. Weird, but sweet too. It made me feel like he was looking out for me, like an older brother would, you know? And it was kind of nice, to sort of have a pseudo older brother for a few minutes."

"Would I call Michael if I were drunk and needed a ride?" She thinks about the answer for a long moment. "I don't know. I guess we'll just have to wait until I get drunk and need a ride to find out."

It isn't until later when she's just won a game of Free Cell and is watching all the cards flip down that she realizes she gave Mark reason number four without even thinking about it.

~ * ~

Her day after lunch is very uneventful. She wins Free Cell two more times, and draws another beach doodle in which she thinks the palm tree looks better. She turns off the automatic voice mail and answers all the phone calls for the rest of the day, however there aren't very many calls at all.

The most interesting thing about the second half of her day is that after lunch Jim is no longer staring at Dwight, but now Kevin, Oscar, and Phyllis are. Jim meanwhile is clicking around on his computer, while humming the Gilligan's Island theme song over and over and over again. Dwight keeps yelling at him to shut up, but he acts like he doesn't know what he's talking about and everyone else pretends they don't hear it either.

By the end of the day, Dwight's face is a lovely shade of red, and after Michael refuses to listen to any of Dwight's complaints as he breezes out the door (he's New York bound), he storms out of the office and drives off, peeling out of the parking lot.

"It was a pretty good day, all around. Michael was in his office on the phone with Jan for most of the day, and he only called me one weird nickname. And Jim got in some good annoying Dwight time, and I actually managed to get a few things done, so… yeah."

She realizes how boring and bad her job must sound. Normally she wouldn't care, but today, something makes her continue speaking.

"I make it sound like it's a really bad job, and most days I think it is. I certainly don't want to this to be my job for the rest of my life. But, it's not _that_ bad, I guess. I really do like the people here. And we have fun sometimes. And there are worse jobs out there I suppose." She tries to think of some, but nothing in particular comes to mind.

"I went to community college, but I didn't get a business degree. No one would hire me. When I came here to interview for Michael, I had just gone through the month from hell. I'd had a dozen interviews and everyone had turned me down because I wasn't qualified enough. This job was kind of my last hope at the time, as scary a thought as that is. And I was sitting in his office, looking at Michael, and he was about to tell me that I wasn't actually qualified for the job, when I just broke down. I started crying hysterically. And Michael handed me a tissue and gave me a hug and told me I had the job. Most days I wish I'd never started to cry."

"But the truth is, I am glad I started to cry. I'm grateful that Michael took pity on me and gave me this job. It pays the bills and it's given me a lot of friendships and a lot of skills. I wouldn't trade the relationships I've formed here for anything in the world." On the word relationships, her eyes glance at the window, outside of which Jim can be seen standing, waiting on her.

"So," Mark asks with a grin, "him giving you this job could be reason number five?"

"I do not love Michael." Pam says, standing up. When she gets to the door, just before she opens it, she turns back. "But if I did, and not like _that_ , but like, you know… that would be my fifth reason."

She and Jim walk out in comfortable silence. When the elevator doors close, Jim smirks and looks over at her. "You gave him five reasons, didn't you?"

Pam just smacks his arm and smiles, while looking straight ahead.


End file.
